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"So, the Kuja Empress was once a slave of the Celestial Dragons..."
After hearing Saint Gorum's words, the Marines' gazes toward the Pirate Empress slowly changed.
"So the high and mighty Empress was once just a Celestial Dragon's slave?"
"I thought she was someone important! Turns out she's just a slave!"
Realization dawned, and open disdain flickered in the Marines' eyes as they stared at Hancock.
In their minds now, Hancock was no longer the untouchable empress but merely a former female slave of the Celestial Dragons. Even if being tied to the Celestial Dragons sounded like a higher "status," a slave was still a slave. Many Marines revered the Celestial Dragons and even dreamed of currying favor with them—but none of them would ever choose to become a Celestial Dragon's slave to do it.
Once you became a slave, your life was no longer your own.
On the Kuja Pirates' side, doubts began to spread in anxious whispers.
"Now that you mention it, Snake Empress only came back to Amazon Lily the same year Tiger freed the slaves. She'd been gone for years before that."
"I heard that during those years, Snake Empress and her sisters were out adventuring overseas. Could it be that they were captured by the Celestial Dragons back then?"
"Keep your voice down. We can't talk about something like that."
At that moment, Luffy couldn't hold back anymore and yelled, "Hey! You bastard who looks like Shanks!"
Saint Gorum turned his head at Luffy's shout. Luffy continued, his voice blazing with anger. "Quit talking to yourself! If you want to fight, then bring it on, you bastard!"
Gorum snorted in contempt. "Shanks? So you know my foolish older brother. Still, you did say one thing that's correct."
He shifted his cold gaze to Hancock. "Whether you were slave no. 77 or not is irrelevant. By sheltering the criminal Straw Hat Luffy, you've given this saint every reason, as an admiral, to execute you on the spot. However, this saint can show mercy…and add you to this saint's collection instead. Accept it gratefully. This is your destiny."
"What destiny are you talking about?!" Luffy suddenly stepped forward, shouting at the top of his lungs. "What right do you have to decide other people's destinies?! Hancock isn't going to be in your collection! I'm going to send you flying!"
Luffy burst forward, charging straight at Gorum.
"Hey, Luffy…!" Rayleigh shouted, anxiety tightening his voice. The power radiating from this celestial dragon was anything but ordinary—even Rayleigh felt genuinely threatened.
Gorum watched Luffy rush him head‑on and sneered. "Is this all the brain Joy Boy's reincarnation has?"
As he spoke, his body began to warp and swell. His marine cloak slipped from his shoulders as his frame grew and grew. In just a few breaths, he went from a little over two meters tall to more than ten. His skin shriveled black like a dried corpse; three ferocious heads with green faces and jagged fangs pushed out, and six withered, corpse-like arms stretched from his sides.
Luffy froze for an instant at the sight of the transformation. In the next moment, energy surged into Gorum's six arms. Six enormous black swords, each more than ten meters long, formed in his hands. One arm swung, bringing a blade crashing down toward Luffy.
Just before the strike landed, Rayleigh leaped in. His sword intercepted the massive black blade with a ringing clash.
"Luffy, fall back!" he barked. "This isn't someone you can handle right now!"
On the Marine side, Vice Admiral Walker roared, "Attack! Arrest all those women from Amazon Lily! Kill anyone who resists!"
"Yes, sir!" Under Walker's command, the Marines surged forward once more, launching another assault on the Kuja Pirates.
"Bring it on!" Luffy snapped into Gear Second, steam hissing from his body. He was just about to use these Marines to test his current strength—far beyond what it had been at Marineford.
Hancock still hadn't recovered. Her eyes stared blankly at the clash between the Marines and the warriors of Amazon Lily, her body trembling uncontrollably. Even without anyone speaking to her, she seemed trapped in the prison of her memories, unable to escape. Despite the chaos and shifting danger of the battlefield, she didn't react at all, as if completely frozen in place.
Sandersonia and Marigold grabbed her shoulders and shook her desperately, shouting over and over, "Sister!"
At last, under their repeated cries, Hancock's awareness snapped back. She looked around at the already chaotic battlefield, everyone locked in combat, and finally tore herself free from the past.
"What's going on?" she exclaimed.
Seeing that their sister had finally recovered, Marigold said solemnly, "Sister, fight! No matter what, if we want to survive, we have to defeat the enemies in front of us first. Otherwise, we'll all die…"
Her expression twisted with even deeper pain as she added, "Or worse… be dragged back to that hell."
In an instant, Hancock's mind flooded with those unbearable memories. 'No… absolutely not. I will never be captured by the Celestial Dragons again.'
"Sandersonia, Marigold, and all Amazon Lily warriors—follow me and drive the Marines back!" Hancock shouted. With that, she leaped into the fray, charging straight at the marines. Even now, she still didn't have the courage to raise her hand directly against a Celestial Dragon.
As the chaotic battle raged on, Gorum fixed his gaze on the newly arrived Dark King Rayleigh and sneered, "Dark King Rayleigh, you may be nothing but a lowly insect, but this saint has heard your name. How fitting—you'll be the perfect test for this saint's newly obtained power."
Rayleigh studied the towering monster before him: a blackened figure with a green face, sharp fangs, and three heads with six arms. His expression grew grave. "Is that a Zoan-type Devil Fruit? It looks a bit like the legendary Asura."
"That's right. This is Asura," Gorum replied without hesitation, baring a vicious grin. "Zoan-type, Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Asura Form."
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